[Creature Lore] Forest Compendium: ET Only

[Classy]

Large Creatures

• Usable only by ET.
  
• The quality of materials repurposed from these creatures is up to their discretion, but it should not supersede what is otherwise possible for them to obtain.
  
• These creatures cannot be tamed or domesticated by players.
  

Woodweft

Epic

Woodwefts, while appearing as an amalgamation of rotting wood, are instead a strange, constrictor sized worm which infests and animates wood into towering constructs of various shapes and sizes. These malevolent beings possess many forms while animating wood, capable of bursting dead wood into clouds of suffocating poison spores, or attracting swarms of ravenous vermin to its will.


When a woodweft appears in a forest, they have a tendency to multiply rapidly and silently, whipping out miles of woodlands in mere months as their eerie bodies shuffle from grove to grove. Multiple worms together can make even larger monstrosities, though alone and without their artificial shell they are only a threat to singular people at most.

Dreadstomper

Rare

The emperor of the jungle, many forested areas are dominated by the massive dreadstomper, a massive, bipedal lizard covered in dark fuzzy tufts and hard, earthy scales. They can exist in all climates, from hot rainforests to frigid alpine woods, though they primarily rely on forested terrain to shelter their eggs of which they are very protective. Males (called murder roosters) and females (called murder hens) are both equally involved in the process of raising young, and will die in order to protect eggs and hatchlings.


These creatures prefer to lie in ambush, finish off foes in one, bone-shattering bite if they can. Against larger foes they are known to group in forces of two to four, one chasing prey into the others as they hunker close to the ground. While their bite could crush a steel statue and their tail could knock an elephant to the ground, their tiny arms are utterly useless. Their roar can deafen those around them, making spellcasting difficult. Despite their large, monstrous appearance, dreadstompers are surprisingly intelligent, and have been known to come to wordless understanding with humanoids.

Bough Serpent

Epic

Winding through canopies as its seabound cousins mind swim through water, the forest serpent is a malevolent creature which lives in the densest of forests, primarily preying upon other, smaller arboreal creatures. They range between thirty to sixty feet long and take decades to grow to adulthood, capable of reaching great speeds in the canopy or in water (though they no longer prefer the aquatic lifestyle of their brethren.) They have hard, iron-like scales of brilliant emerald or jade colors.


These creatures have fast metabolism which can go dormant for decades at a time, living through short bursts of rampant violence before going into long hibernation. They possess a breath of oily flame which fails to go out when exposed to water. While useful for defense, these creatures are known to cause forest fires before hibernation to benefit fiendskins, who then finish the symbiotic relationship by forming hives around its lair as to defend the slumbering behemoth. The teeth of the creature are sharp and hard like iron, but it takes a few moments of effort to bite through something like steel plate.

Cockatrice

Epic

A creature of myth and iconography, which many believe don’t exist, the cockatrice is something between a reptile and a bird. Reaching sizes larger than a horse, with no known maximum size, the intelligent but solitary predator is equipped with a jagged beak which calcifies flesh upon being cut. This calcification is slow, compared to being turned to stone by some. Those without animalistic, living flesh (like spriggans, undead, or constructs) are immune to this affliction, and it can be subverted with healing magics or painful knife-based procedures.


The creature’s feathers are surprisingly sharp, and its talons are long and pointy like spears, making it exceedingly deadly from all angles. They are also capable of fighting while airborne, though as they get larger and larger they grow only more clumsy. Eventually, the eldest are too old to fly, and often starve due to being unable to catch prey (none have been known to die of old age.)